By Caroline Nebel,
Sustainability Associate
I started working as a case manager in the Refugee Resettlement Program at CSS in 2023. Before long I was immersed in the work, finding it fulfilling and exciting. Throughout my day I might be shopping for house supplies, taking the city bus with a client, or teaching a family how to budget.
During my time in the Refugee Resettlement Program, we had an extraordinary team that became very close-knit. There were about 10 of us, some born in America and some immigrants from places like Ukraine, Syria and Burma. Within our team 13 different languages were spoken, so we often could get by without hiring outside translators. We each had our own case assignments, but everyone would help each other—perhaps translating at short notice, or driving a second vehicle to an airport pickup. We solved countless difficult situations as a team, sharing together in both joys and trials.
Last winter, all refugee arrivals were halted after the change in the federal administration. Our Refugee Resettlement Program at CSS is a federal program, controlled and funded by the government. The last day for arrivals was Jan. 20, 2025.
We had received 17 refugees since the start of January 2025. The service period for these clients would normally last 90 days, but it was unclear if the government would still provide the funding for them. The next several months were confusing for us, our clients, and every other resettlement agency in the country. As an agency we decided to still complete the required services for our clients, despite uncertainty.
We knew that the closure of the Refugee Resettlement Program was a likelihood in the administration change, so our agency had a plan to retain the members of the refugee team in that case. My teammates and I were given new roles throughout the agency. I began helping in the eCommerce program, where we sell high-value donations online. I also helped with some other recycling projects, took some shifts cashiering at the thrift shop, and still helped some refugees with certain tasks.
In the fall of 2025, I was asked to start a new project: leading our thrift shop through the implementation of a new volunteer-led model. The goal was to make the thrift shop more sustainable by running the store almost entirely by volunteers.
Throughout the fall I trained and scheduled volunteers, created standard operating procedures and helped reorganize and plan for the future of the store.
My coworkers from the refugee team have also all settled into their new roles. Veronica is using her case management skills in the St. Gianna Program. Nadia is working in the eCommerce program and has helped increase its sales dramatically. Will is working on a few different projects, including volunteer coordination, accounting and our Prison and Rentery Apostolate program. Poe Dee, the former director of the refugee resettlement program, is now the director of refugee and immigrant services at CSS.
Poe Dee, Albert and Katie still work with our former refugee clients when needed. The federal funding isn’t supporting an official refugee program at CSS anymore, but we are still available to help with things like job applications, setting up rent payments, and providing emergency food and financial assistance. Our former refugee clients can still lean on us, and while we are more limited in our services, we can direct them to other resources if needed.
I miss working with refugees, but I am grateful for the time and experience that I had in that role. I loved connecting with people from around the world, and getting to show them around Lincoln and accompanying them as they entered their new life in America. I expect that in the future the Refugee Resettlement Program will be opened again to new arrivals, but until then we will serve the people in our community in other ways. No matter what type of service we are providing, our mission is to provide Hope in the Good Life, and ultimately an encounter with Christ.
